Neighborhood Characteristics, Maternal Parenting, and Health and Development of Children from Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Families

The present study examined the direct and indirect effects of neighborhood conditions on the health and development of children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. Two waves of data were analyzed from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study and its subsample of 3,656 mothers and their young children at ages 3 and 5. The results show that social cohesion was directly and indirectly associated with children's behavioral problems and health status. Social control was found to have an indirect effect on children's behavioral problems and cognitive development transmitted through maternal parenting quality and parenting stress. There were significant direct effects of neighborhood physical disorder on children's behavioral problems and cognitive development. In terms of effect size, mothers’ parenting stress and parenting quality, economic hardship, education level, and health care coverage were also prominent factors in determining the health and development of children. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.